COPENHAGEN \u2014 Business in the front, party in the back.<\/p>\n
A packed Danish crowd celebrated on Saturday the much-maligned but enduring mullet hairstyle<\/a>, defined by very short hair at the front and longer hair at the back.<\/p>\n Denmark\u2019s raucous 2026 Mullet Championship, presented on an outdoor stage in central Copenhagen, attracted 12 well-coiffed competitors and more than a thousand spectators to the evening\u2019s \u201cmane\u201d event.<\/p>\n A competitor at Denmark\u2019s Mullet Championship in Copenhagen on June 6, 2026. AP Photo\/James Brooks<\/p>\n Organizer Steffen Stiw Weber, a 37-year-old electrician, said the championships, now in their fourth year, began after he had a hair transplant and chose to grow out a mullet.<\/p>\n After realizing he couldn\u2019t compete in a mullet competition in the United States <\/a>because he wasn\u2019t a US citizen, Stiw Weber started his own in Denmark.<\/p>\n \u201cI was like, OK, I have to do it on my own here in Denmark,\u201d he said while smiling.<\/p>\n Competitors in Saturday\u2019s championships were evaluated on their cuts\u2019 style, uniqueness, and overall performance and \u201cmullet moves,\u201d explained judge Bobby Agren.<\/p>\n Contestants were given 60 seconds each to perform on stage to showcase their cuts.<\/p>\n Competitor Martin Sedolf performing as his professional wrestler character \u201cBenny Bacchus\u201d during the mullet contest. AP Photo\/James Brooks<\/p>\n Judges score the mullets on style, uniqueness and overall performance with \u201cmullet moves.\u201d AP Photo\/James Brooks<\/p>\n \u201cI like the finesse, the twist, the nostalgia. I like it if it looks ridiculous or maybe ugly in a beautiful way,\u201d said Agren, who owns two hair salons in Copenhagen.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in our culture, when everything must \u2026 be perfect on social media and everything like that, I think that\u2019s why people have to stand out from the crowd,\u201d said Stiw Weber.<\/p>\n The event featured an array of over-the-top performances, including beer-swilling, body-popping, and a live saxophone show. One competitor even wore a mullet haircut styled to resemble the Danish flag.<\/p>\n Competitor Aksel Toft dyed his mullet to resemble the Danish flag. AP Photo\/James Brooks<\/p>\n The crowd screamed and chanted with their energy seemingly feeding directly into the various performers on stage.<\/p>\n After every performance, judges held up scorecards to distribute points to the competitors.<\/p>\n Forty-three-year-old construction worker Thomas Berg eventually took home the top prize after wowing judges by frantically jumping on a trampoline while clad in neon green gym wear. He completed his mullet haircut with an orange headband. \u201cI think it\u2019s just funny. It\u2019s just a big party,\u201d said a smiling Berg after collecting his prize. \u201cIt\u2019s just nice to be a bit outside the box.\u201d<\/p>\n A competitor with red, orange and yellow makeup to match his dyed mullet. AP Photo\/James Brooks<\/p>\n Though mullets have likely been around longer than there have been barbers, the Oxford English Dictionary cites hip-hop legends the Beastie Boys for helping popularize the term mullet with the song \u201cMullet Head\u201d on their 1994 recording \u201cIll Communication.\u201d<\/p>\n